Drag Me To Hell

Synopsis: Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a loans officer at a small bank bucking for promotion to assistant manager. When Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), an elderly gypsy woman, asks for a third extension on her mortgage, Christine has to choose between an act of kindness or a shot at promotion. Ambition wins out, and for that the gypsy curses her. Stalked by a Lamia, she has only three days to lift the curse before it drags her to hell…

It’s nice to have the old Sam back. After three Spiderman films, the cheeky, gleefully gory Sam Raimi of Evil Dead fame seemed to be fading away. But taking a break from a superhero series whose last outing was equalled only by RoboCop 3 as a textbook example of the law of diminishing returns, finally we get a great horror comedy from the man who practically invented the genre.

The premise is basic, girl stalked by demon, but the execution is flawless. Raimi takes delight in lining up the frights, building them up and then, when you’re sure you know it’s coming, holding on a tiny second longer. It’s not redefining the form, but rather executing a familiar style with renewed energy. The numerous attacks by the Lamia and the old Gypsy herself are classic frightfests, with the trademark slapstick of a Sam Raimi special. His love for The Three Stooges shines through in a number of scenes, especially the initial fight between Christine and Sylvia in a carpark. It’s both thrilling and hysterical. The level of gore is also rather cool, the amount of fluids spewed at and out of Christine is pretty full on. It’s funny awful, not nausea-inducing, and the tongue remains firmly in cheek the whole way through the film.

Fans of Raimi will lament the absence of a Bruce Campbell cameo, but in many ways his presence would detract from the film. By its end, Christine is practically a re-invention of Ash, and her scene in the graveyard wouldn’t be out of place in any Evil Dead film.

The performances are all solid, the effects are top notch and the set-pieces are a mix of Looney Toons brilliance and classic fright-fest horror. Drag Me To Hell is a thoroughly enjoyable film.

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